Posted by JonOK, so the following isn’t about bids per se, but as an illustration of the consequences of choosing the wrong supplier for a job, this (forwarded to me by a non-work friend the other day) really made me laugh…

Read the text before looking at the photograph:​

You may be asking for trouble when you commission taxidermy work from someone who is unfamiliar with the species. That was just the case for King Frederick I of Sweden in 1731.

The lion was a gift, but after it died, the pelt and bones were presented to a taxidermist who had never seen a lion. You see the result looks more like a cartoon character than the king of beasts. The stuffed lion is still on display at Gripsholm’s Castle.